Integrated energy efficiency evaluation of a multi-source multi-load desalination micro-energy network

With increasing global shortage of fresh water resources,many countries are prioritizing desalination as a means of utilizing abundantly available seawater resources.Integrated energy efficiency evaluation is a scientific method for the quantitative analysis of energy efficiency based on multiple indicators and is very useful for investment,construction,and scientific decision-making for desalination projects.In this paper,the energy efficiency evaluation of the micro energy network (MEN) of desalination for multi-source and multi-load is studied,and the basic idea of comprehensive energy efficiency evaluation is analyzed.The process includes the use of a MEN model to establish an integrated energy efficiency evaluation index system,taking into consideration energy,equipment,economic,environmental,and social factors.A combined evaluation method considering subjective and objective comprehensive weights for multi-source multi-load desalination MENs is proposed to evaluate the energy efficiency of desalination and from multiple perspectives.

Efficiency analysis of numerical integrations for finite element substructure in real-time hybrid simulation

Finite element（FE） is a powerful tool and has been applied by investigators to real-time hybrid simulations（RTHSs）. This study focuses on the computational efficiency, including the computational time and accuracy, of numerical integrations in solving FE numerical substructure in RTHSs. First, sparse matrix storage schemes are adopted to decrease the computational time of FE numerical substructure. In this way, the task execution time（TET） decreases such that the scale of the numerical substructure model increases. Subsequently, several commonly used explicit numerical integration algorithms, including the central difference method（CDM）, the Newmark explicit method, the Chang method and the Gui-λ method, are comprehensively compared to evaluate their computational time in solving FE numerical substructure. CDM is better than the other explicit integration algorithms when the damping matrix is diagonal, while the Gui-λ（λ = 4） method is advantageous when the damping matrix is non-diagonal. Finally, the effect of time delay on the computational accuracy of RTHSs is investigated by simulating structure-foundation systems. Simulation results show that the influences of time delay on the displacement response become obvious with the mass ratio increasing, and delay compensation methods may reduce the relative error of the displacement peak value to less than 5% even under the large time-step and large time delay.

Integrated management strategy for improving the grain yield and nitrogen-use efficiency of winter wheat

Understanding of how combinations of agronomic options can be used to improve the grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency（NUE） of winter wheat is limited. A three-year experiment involving four integrated management strategies was conducted from 2013 to 2015 in Tai＇an, Shandong Province, China, to evaluate changes in grain yield and NUE. The integrated management treatments were as follows： current practice（T1）; improvement of current practice（T2）; high-yield management（T3）, which aimed to maximize grain yield regardless of the cost of resource inputs; and integrated soil and crop system management（T4） with a higher seeding rate, delayed sowing date, and optimized nutrient management. Seeding rates increased by 75 seeds m^-2 with each treatment from T1（225 seeds m^-2） to T4（450 seeds m^-2）. The sowing dates were delayed from T1（5 th Oct.） to T2 and T3（8 th Oct.）, and to T4 treatment（12 th Oct.）. T1, T2, T3, and T4 received 315, 210, 315, and 240 kg N ha^-1, 120, 90, 210 and 120 kg P2O5 ha^-1, 30, 75, 90, and 45 kg K2O ha^-1, respectively. The ratio of basal application to topdressing for T1, T2, T3, and T4 was 6：4, 5：5, 4：6, and 4：6, respectively, with the N topdressing applied at regreening for T1 and at jointing stage for T2, T3, and T4. The P fertilizers in all treatments were applied as basal fertilizer. The K fertilizer for T1 and T2 was applied as basal fertilizer while the ratio of basal application to topdressing（at jointing stage） of K fertilizer for both T3 and T4 was 6：4. T1, T2, T3, and T4 were irrigated five, four, four and three times, respectively. Treatment T3 produced the highest grain yield among all treatments over three years and the average yield was 9 277.96 kg ha^-1. Grain yield averaged across three years with the T4 treatment（8 892.93 kg ha^-1） was 95.85% of that with T3 and was 21.72 and 6.10% higher than that with T1（7 305.95 kg ha^-1） and T2（8 381.41 kg ha^-1）, respectively. Treatment T2 produced the highest NUE of all the integrated treatments. The NUE with T4 was 95.36% of that with T2 and was 51.91 and 25.62% higher than that with T1 and T3, respectively. The N uptake efficiency（UPE） averaged across three years with T4 was 50.75 and 16.62% higher than that with T1and T3, respectively. The N utilization efficiency（UTE） averaged across three years with T4 was 7.74% higher than that with T3. The increased UPE with T4 compared with T3 could be attributed mostly to the lower available N in T4, while the increased UTE with T4 was mainly due to the highest N harvest index and low grain N concentration, which consequently led to improved NUE. The net profit for T4 was the highest among four treatments and was 174.94, 22.27, and 28.10% higher than that for T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Therefore, the T4 treatment should be a recommendable management strategy to obtain high grain yield, high NUE, and high economic benefits in the target region, although further improvements of NUE are required.